Iran-Europe nuclear cooperation growing: Salehi

Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi attends the lecture “Iran after the agreement: Hopes & Concerns” in Vienna, Austria, September 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Iran’s nuclear chief says cooperation with Europe in the area of nuclear technology is on the rise, more than a year after a landmark nuclear deal was inked between Tehran and six world powers.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi made the remarks after visiting a nuclear hospital in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday.

“We have [reached] several agreements with the Europeans, including the one on nuclear safety with Switzerland and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed [in that regard],” said Salehi, adding that a bright future awaits Tehran-Europe cooperation.

The MoU was signed on Wednesday by top Iranian and Swiss nuclear safety officials at the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Vienna.

Salehi further said Tehran is engaged in serious cooperation with the Czech Republic and is collaborating with relevant EU institutions, namely the European Atomic Energy Community, Jet Company and ITER, an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject.

Touching on his visit to the Vienna nuclear hospital, Salehi said that there is no such medical facility in Western Asia and Iran will open a similar site in the capital, Tehran, within the next 4-5 years if funding is provided.

Tehran and the P5+1 group of world powers, namely Russia, China, France, Britain, the US and Germany hammered out a nuclear accord, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in July 2015.

It went into effect in January and resolved a long-running dispute over Iran’s peaceful nuclear program. The deal, which took effect in January, ended decades of economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.